The History of Abortion

The History of Abortion

Abortion as an integral part of reproductive health care; in the United States, the history of abortion goes back prior to 1973.  Abortion was performed many years ago, but it was legal in the United States from the time when the first settlers arrived.  However, in the mid-1800’s, states passed laws that made abortion illegal.  The anti-abortion laws created varied from state to state.  During the 1800’s, medical procedures, including abortion, were high risk because hospitals did not use common antiseptics.  Also, doctors had primitive medical education.  Thus, the danger for abortion was similar to the danger from other surgeries that were not outlawed.  By 1910, all but one state had criminalized abortion, except where it was deemed necessary based on a doctor’s judgment to save a woman’s life. In this way, legal abortion was successfully transformed into a “physician’s only practice”.

Milestones in Abortion Law

1700’s to mid-1800’s: Adopting British law, all states permitted abortion before fetal movement could be perceived.

1850 to 1900: Starting with Massachusetts, nearly all states banned abortion, with some exceptions that allowed saving a woman’s life when it was in danger.

1962 to 1973: 17 states amended their laws to allow abortions in cases such as rape, health risks, and fetal damage.  Alaska, Hawaii, New York, and Washington allowed abortion whenever the woman and her doctor deemed it necessary. Only Pennsylvania failed to lift its total ban on the procedure.

January 22, 1973 - Roe v. Wade: U.S Supreme Court legalized abortion on a 7-2 vote, overturning all states’ abortion bans; their reasoning was that the 14^th Amendment of the U.S Constitution guarantees women the right to privacy in decisions of when to end a pregnancy.

On the same day, in the case of Doe v. Bolton, the high court ruled to let women end a pregnancy if their life or health was in danger.

July 1,  1976 - Planned Parenthood v. Danforth: The U.S. Court overturned a Missouri law requiring a married woman to obtain her husband’s consent for an abortion.

June 30, 1990 - Harris v. McRae: The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Hyde amendment to the U.S. Social Securities Act, restricting Medicaid funding for abortion in cases of life endangerment, rape, or incest.

July 3^rd, 1989 - Webstern v. Reproductive Health Services: This case concerns a Missouri statute where public health workers were prohibited to perform abortions, unless the mother’s life was at risk.  It also demanded that doctors needed to test the viability of the fetus in a woman who was more than 20 weeks pregnant and looking for an abortion.

June 25, 1990 - Hodgson v. Minnesota: The U.S. Court ruled against a Minnesota law that required minors to notify both parents before obtaining an abortion.

June 29, 1992 - Planned Parenthood v. Casey: The court reaffirms Roes core holding that states may not ban abortions or interfere with a woman’s decision to have an abortion. The court does uphold mandatory 24-hour waiting periods and parental-consent laws

June 28, 2000 - Stenberg v. Carthart: U.S Supreme Court strikes down a Nebraska ban of partial abortion; laws in other 30 states are invalidated.

 Nov. 5, 2003: President Bush signs the Abortion Act of 2003, prohibiting certain abortion procedures.  This became the first federal law banning the D & X procedure.

April 18, 2007 - Gonzales v. Carthart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood federation of America: The Supreme Court reversed a previous ruling and upheld the federal ban, by vote 5-4, on abortion.  It gave opponents of abortion a major victory and prompted many states to consider passing tougher restrictions on abortion.

Through this time line of abortion, we can see how many times women’s rights have been violated.  Although most of the regulations throughout history have permitted abortion when the woman’s life is at risk, in some cases, the courts made decisions based on sociocultural and political influences, rather than on circumstantial evidence, which was the case in Beatriz situation in El Salvador.

http://www.chicago tribune.com

http:/www.pweforum.org/abortion